THE PURPOSE OF PRAISE
Exodus 15:1-18 (NKJV)
By Mark Hardgrove

INTRODUCTION:
Today I want to focus on why we praise, the "Purpose of Praise."  We
know how to do praise, but do we know what praise is designed to do? 
What is the purpose?

I believe that there are usually three characters involved in the drama
of praise: God, those who are praising, and those who are watching the
drama unfold.  I think praise has a threefold purpose which includes all
three actors in the drama.  First, praise exalts God; second, it edifies
the believer; and third, it encourages the humble.

I)  EXALTING GOD
The first purpose of praise is to exalt God.  The Word exalt comes from
the Hebrew word ROOM and it literally means to "lift up, to raise." 
Figuratively, it means to "raise in rank or in order."   It also means
"to lift up a person by speaking well of them, to make them known to
others who hear."  

Moses, then, after seeing the defeat of the enemy at the hand of God,
lifts up the name of Yahweh in this song.  In it, Moses is exalting, or
speaking well of, God.   Notice how various translations render the
these words.  (This is important.)

Exodus 15:2 (KJV)
The LORD is my strength and song, 
and he is become my salvation: 
he is my God, [and I will prepare him an habitation]; 
my father's God, and I will exalt him.  

Exodus 15:2 (NKJV)
The LORD is my strength and song, 
And He has become my salvation; 
He is my God, [and I will praise Him]; 
My father's God, and I will exalt Him."  

Exodus 15:2 (NIV)
[and I will praise him],

Exodus 15:2 (RSV)
[and I will praise him],

Why two different translations?  It is because the Hebrew word
translated "habitation" in the King James Version, and "praise" in
almost every other version, has shades of both in its meaning.  By
combining both shades of meaning we might say something like, "I will
prepare praise for Him to dwell in."  This is what David was getting at
when he wrote,  "But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises
of Israel" (Psalm 22:3).  The New King James Version says it like this: 
"But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel."  

The word translated "inhabit," refers to a royal habitation,
specifically to the throne of a king.  What Moses said, and what the
David was saying, is that when we praise God we are building a spiritual
throne for Him to sit on and abide upon while we are worshipping Him.

John Durham, in his commentary on the book of Exodus says that the word
"exalt" means to "raise with praise!" 

One purpose of praise is to prepare a place for God to reside while we
worship Him.  

I've noticed that most homes have a special seat in them.  It's usually
the one with the best view of the television.  It is the softest and the
most comfortable chair.  It's the one that the kids fight over.  Usually
dad gets to sit in it.  I have one in my home, and my kids will always
fight over it and when they see me coming they run and jump into it.  I
walk over in my dad-like way and say, "Get out of my chair!"  

To which they respond, "Why is it your chair?  How come you always get
to sit in it?"  

I tell them, "Because I have been at work today.  I have been preparing
sermons,  I've been cleaning the church, or mowing the yard and my work
provides this house, puts the food on the table, and clothes on your
back.  Besides, I'm the biggest and the baddest person in the house, so
get out of my chair!"

Even then,  I sometimes have to grab them by the leg and drag them out
of my chair!

But when company comes to my home, I will offer them the chair.  It's
the best chair and so I want them to be comfortable.  If we are watching
a TV show, I want them to get the best view.  It is a place of honor.

When we are praising God we are offering Him the best seat in the
house.  We are saying that no man deserves to sit on this throne.  Only
God deserves this seat.  His throne in our worship is the praise we
offer.  I don't know about you, but I have decided that He will get the
best that I can give.  I want to exalt Him, I want to raise Him with
praise.

Jesus said in John 12:32,  "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me."  Two thousand years ago Jesus was lifted up
on a cross so that you and I could be redeemed and continue to lift Him
up.  Not on a cross, but on a throne, on the throne of our praises.  

That's what the world is looking for.  When they come into a church
where God is front and center, where He is exalted and not a man or a
building or a denomination; but He is raised in praise, He is lifted up
in all of His glory, then they will be moved by the presence of God to
confess as Isaiah, "I am a man of unclean lips."   

When God is lifted up in praise and worship and His presence fills the
house, the lost and the lonely, the bruised, the battered and bleeding
will come running to the healing balm of Gilead to receive a touch from
the Great Physician.

II.   I AM EDIFIED
A.  Praise is my key to the holy of holies.  Praise not only exalts God,
but it lifts me into His presence.  In Psalm 24:3 David asked this
question, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall
stand in his holy place?"  Jesus descended to earth in the form of
sinful flesh so that through Him we might ascend into the presence of
God.  We come in His name, but we come with praise.  Psalm 96:8 says,
"Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and
come into his courts."  Psalm 100:4 gives us this instruction, "Enter
into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be
thankful unto him, and bless his name."

I am edified, I get lifted up when I praise the Lord.  I am elevated, in
my spirit, into the presence of God.

B.   My praise reminds me of His goodness and His majesty builds up my
faith.  The song of Moses became a continual reminder to the people of
Israel that God had delivered them with a strong arm, out of the land of
Egypt.  Every time they sang this song they remembered the great
deliverance which God wrought on their behalf.  

That's what praise does.  It reminds us of God's greatness.   That's why
Psalm 150 says, "Praise Him for His mighty acts."  Why do we praise Him
for His mighty acts?  

It's not because He has forgotten what He has done, but it is so that we
will not forget.  And when we start remembering all that great things
God has done our faith is built up.  We say to ourselves, "If He did it
once, He can do it again."  When we praise Him for all His benefits,
when we praise Him for healing us, our faith is edified, it is built up.

No one is edified by complaining and contention.  When the storms of
life come, we can either complain about the rain and be pulled like a
whirlpool into despair, or we can begin to sing, "I know the peace
speaker, I know Him by name.  I know the peace speaker, He controls the
wind and waves.  When He says, "Peace!  Be still!"  They have to obey. 
I'm glad I know the peace speaker.  Yes, I know Him by name!"

When David came into the camp of Israel to deliver some cheese and
crackers to his brothers, he saw the armies of Israel shaking in their
fox holes while a giant named Goliath stood mocking the people of God.

Goliath said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that
we may fight together."  David asked what was going on.  He wanted to
know how this Baal worshipper was allowed to stand and defy the amies of
the God of Israel.  They told him that no man was willing to go up and
fight, not even with the reward Saul had offered.

David asked about the reward and they told him, "the man who kills  him,
the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter,
and make his father's house free in Israel."  David said, "Tell me that
again."  Then he said, "I'll fight him."

His brothers laughed at him and called him a trouble maker.  But David
said, "Is there not a cause?" 

They took David to Saul, and said here is someone who is willing to go
up against Goliath.  Saul looked at David and said, "You're just a boy. 
How do you think that you can defeat this giant?"

David started testifying.  He said, "Thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the
flock:  and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of
his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him.  Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear:
and this uncircumcised Philistine  shall be as one of them, seeing he
hath defied the armies of the living God."

That was David's testimony and then he followed that up with praise, he
said, "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of
the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine" (1 Sam. 17:37).

Do you see what He did?  First he exalted God.  He said, "God has
already delivered me once."  That is praise.  He is praising God for His
mighty acts.  Second, by praising God for who He is and what He has
done, David builds up his own faith; he continues by saying, "He will
deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine!"

If you are going through a storm, start to testify, start to remind
yourself -- and any devils listening -- that God has already proven
Himself to you.  As you begin to testify, move into praise and start
speaking the language of faith.  Praise Him.   Praise is the language of
faith because it is not determined by what is going on now, it is not
determined by what you see or feel, but it celebrates what God has
already done and it declares what God will do.

When you are truly walking by faith you will find that you can praise
God in all things.  You can praise Him when you're healthy and you can
praise Him when you're sick.  You can praise Him when you've got money
in your pocket and you can praise Him when the cupboard is bare.

Praise is not denying reality, but praise is that feeling of faith that
refuses to give in to the attack of the enemy.  Praise is the voice
singing from the prison cell, "I've got a feeling everything's gonna be
all right!"  And as you praise, your faith is edified, your faith is
built up until it breaks forth in victory and giants fall and mountains
move!

III.	ENCOURAGES THE HUMBLE
Praise exalts God, it edifies the believer and it encourages the
humble.  One of the side benefits of praise is that those who are
watching your life see that God is good.  It may be sinners who see and
when you declare God's praise they may be moved to find out how you can
have joy when their life is so miserable.  They will come to you in the
valley and say, "How come you are singing?"  And you will say, "Because
the Lord is with me."

David said in Psalm 34:2,  "My soul shall make her boast in the LORD:
the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad."

While our praise is directed to God, one of the reasons why our praise
is to be demonstrable, one of the reasons why it is an outward
expression is so that others will hear and be glad.  Folks sitting
beside you in the pews may know the storms that life has thrown at you. 
They may know the struggles that you have had to endure, or that you are
enduring; and when they see or hear you praising God through the tears,
and rejoicing through the pain, then they will be encouraged.  They will
say, "If God can do it for him or her, then God can do it for me."

After Jesus healed one person here or there, the word got out and the
multitudes came to Him for healing.  Our praise is intended to get the
word out, "God is good and His mercy endures forever."

CONCLUSION:
When you went into the temple of the Old Testament, you passed by
various objects: the brazen altar, the golden laver, the golden
lampstands, but just before you entered the holy of holies there was an
altar of incense.  As the coals burned upon the incense the holy place
was perfumed with a sweet fragrance.  You couldn't get to the holy of
holies without inhaling the sweet fragrance of incense.

By analogy, our praise is the incense we offer unto God.  Through our
songs and our words and our expressions of praise we issue up a
fragrance, a sweet fragrance of praise that ascends into the throne room
of God.

Do you remember when the Mary washed the feet of Jesus with the
spikenard and wiped them with her hair?  Three things happened.  First,
Jesus was touched by the fragrance.  Second, Mary was perfumed by the
fragrance.  And third, everyone in the house got to enjoy the smell of
the fragrance the filled the room.

What is the purpose of praise?  It is to exalt God, to edify the
believer and the encourage the humble.